What is IntelliDev?
IntelliDev watches how you code — not what you code.
It silently tracks your typing rhythm, error patterns, context switching, and session length, then turns those signals into a real-time cognitive load score from 0–100. When that score climbs too high, it tells you to step away before burnout sets in.
No accounts. No cloud. Your code never leaves your machine.
🧠 How It Works
IntelliDev samples four behavioral dimensions continuously while you work:
| Signal |
What's measured |
| ⌨️ TYPING |
Rhythm, variability, backspace rate, pauses between bursts |
| 🐛 ERRORS |
Compilation error frequency, burst detection, debug session count |
| 🔀 CONTEXT |
File switch frequency, rapid switches, unique files touched per window |
| ⏱️ SESSION |
Total time coded, deep work blocks, idle ratio, night-time activity |
These feed a multi-layered scoring architecture:
- Rule-Based Engine: Computes scores using 20 heuristics normalized to your coding patterns.
- On-Device ML Scorer: An online logistic regression classifier (using hand-rolled SGD) that trains incrementally on your sessions. It learns your unique patterns locally and blends its predictions (up to 60% weight) with the rule engine after 15 sessions.
- Temporal Fatigue Analyser: A rolling cross-session analyzer that monitors score trends using exponential moving averages (EMA). It applies a cumulative fatigue penalty (+5 to +15 pts) for consecutive high-load sessions.
- Reading Mode Dampener: Automatically detects code-reading/debugging sessions (low typing rate with moderate switches) and dampens context-switching scores to avoid false positives.
🔬 Advanced Composite Signals
To capture complex coding strain, IntelliDev extracts derived composite features:
- Error-to-Type Ratio: Measures linter/compile error rate relative to typing speed. A fast typer making frequent errors indicates a higher cognitive strain than a slow, methodical typer.
- Context Fragmentation: Computes rapid file switches per minute of active session, capturing fragmentation regardless of session duration.
📊 Score Levels
Your cognitive load score sits on a spectrum with clear, actionable guidance at every stage:
0 ──────────── 30 ──────────── 60 ──────────── 80 ─────── 100
│ │ │ │ │
│ 🟢 STABLE │ 🟡 MILD │ 🟠 HIGH │ 🔴 RISK │
│ FOCUS │ STRAIN │ LOAD │ │
│ │ │ │ │
│ You're in │ Consider a │ Take a │ Stop. │
│ flow. │ short break. │ 10–15 min │ Rest 30+ │
│ Keep going. │ │ break. │ minutes. │
│ │ │ │ │
0 ──────────── 30 ──────────── 60 ──────────── 80 ─────── 100
🎯 Personal Baseline
Generic thresholds are unfair. A naturally fast typer looks "overloaded" to a dumb threshold. Someone who prefers coding at night gets flagged every evening. IntelliDev fixes this.
After 10 sessions of coding, IntelliDev locks a personal baseline calibrated to your individual patterns using Pearson z-scores:
- 📌 Scores are relative to your norm, not a population average
- ⚡ Fast typers are not penalised for high KPM
- 🌙 Night owls are not flagged unfairly for late sessions
- 🤖 ML Model Activation: On-device online learning activates automatically after 15 sessions.
- 🔄 The baseline auto-recalibrates every 30 sessions as your patterns evolve
During calibration, the dashboard shows rule-based estimates with a progress bar so you always know how far along you are.
🖥️ Dashboard
Open the IntelliDev panel from the activity bar. Everything you need is in one place.
| Panel |
What it shows |
| 📊 Live gauge |
Current cognitive load score (blended rule-based + ML prediction) |
| ℹ️ Interactive Tooltips |
Clicking the ℹ popover on any chart toggles detailed explanations and color-coded threshold keys |
| 📈 Score trend |
Score history across all sessions with Burnout (80), High (60), and Mild (30) reference bands |
| 🧩 Category breakdown |
Stacked bar chart showing Typing, Errors, Context, and Session contributions |
| 🔴 Error density |
Spikes and peak compilation errors per 10-minute window |
| 🔀 Context switching |
File switch frequency contrasted against rapid-switch lines |
| 🎯 Deep work vs. idle |
Focus blocks compared to idle time per session against a 25-minute deep work goal |
| 🗓️ Heatmap |
Hourly/daily cognitive load matrix (Hour of day vs Date) |
| 📅 Weekly and monthly |
Period comparisons (Weekly/Monthly) with green/pink delta highlights |
| 🔔 Alert history |
Detailed alert feed with type-specific glowing borders, local timestamps, messages, and triggered rule tags |
🔔 Alerts
IntelliDev surfaces cognitive load signals non-intrusively — no sudden popups while you're deep in code. Alerts are delivered in two silent ways:
Status Bar (bottom of VS Code)
The status bar item updates automatically every time a new score is produced. The icon, text, and background color all change based on your current load level:
| Score |
Status Bar appearance |
| 0–29 |
$(pulse) IntelliDev: Stable Focus (24/100) — no highlight |
| 30–59 |
$(pulse) IntelliDev: Mild Strain (45/100) — no highlight |
| 60–79 |
$(warning) IntelliDev: High Cognitive Load (72/100) — orange background |
| ≥ 80 |
$(error) IntelliDev: Burnout Risk (85/100) — red background |
Hover over the status bar item at any time to see a tooltip with your exact score, load level, and a personalised recommendation — without interrupting your flow.
Every alert is also saved locally and shown in the Recent Alerts panel inside the IntelliDev sidebar dashboard. You can review them at your own pace.
| Trigger |
Alert type |
| Score ≥ 60 |
🟠 Overload |
| Score ≥ 80 |
🔴 Burnout risk |
| 2+ hours continuous |
⏱️ Long session |
| After 10 pm (15 min+) |
🌙 Night coding |
All alerts respect a 5-minute cooldown so they never flood the history. Night alerts use a separate 30-minute cooldown.
Alert timestamps always reflect your local timezone, including on Windows machines where the VS Code extension host can default to UTC.
🔒 Privacy
IntelliDev was designed from the ground up with privacy as a hard constraint, not an afterthought.
✅ Cannot read your code — The VS Code API used (onDidChangeTextDocument) provides typing metadata only. It is technically incapable of capturing source code content.
✅ No filenames or snippets stored — Session files contain only numbers. No file names, no code, no personal information.
✅ Fully local — Everything runs inside VS Code. No external servers, no network calls, no background processes.
✅ Auto cleanup — Session files older than 90 days are automatically deleted.
⚙️ Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
intellidev.alertThreshold |
60 |
Score threshold for overload alerts (0–100) |
intellidev.dataPath |
(empty) |
Custom path for session storage. Leave empty to use VS Code's default global storage. |
⏸️ Pause Tracking
Click the pause button in the IntelliDev sidebar title bar to stop tracking during a meeting or break. Click play to resume. The status bar always reflects the current state.
🗂️ Data Management
All data lives on your machine. The dashboard gives you full control.
| Action |
What it does |
| 🔄 Reset baseline only |
Wipes the calibration and restarts it, keeping all session history |
| 🗑️ Delete all session data |
Removes all local files and resets calibration |
| 💥 Full wipe |
Deletes everything and generates a new anonymous identity |
Every action requires a confirmation step. There is nothing on a server to contact or revoke.
📦 Installation
VS Code / Cursor / Codium
Search for IntelliDev in the Extensions panel, or use the install buttons at the top of this page.
Open VSX — VSCodium, Gitpod, and compatible editors
Available on the Open VSX Registry. Any editor that supports Open VSX can install IntelliDev directly from its Extensions panel — no manual steps needed.
Requirements: VS Code 1.85 or later. No additional runtimes or dependencies.
